CMC CWPD Library Senior Thesis : Books

Getting Started

For general help using Blais (our online catalog), check out this research guide.

Try LINK+

LINK+ is a shared catalog of materials owned by dozens of member libraries in California and Nevada. Both academic and public libraries participate in LINK+. Because the Claremont Colleges Library participates in LINK+, you may borrow through LINK+ if the Library doesn't own the book you need or if the Library's copy is not available for regular checkout. The Library will email you when the book arrives; you can also monitor your request through your library account in Blais.

LINK+ books arrive at Honnold/Mudd in 2-4 days.

The loan period for LINK+ books is 21 days.

Most LINK+ books can be renewed once, for 14 days.

Blais

You can search for books, videos and DVDs, music scores, and other materials in Blais, the online catalog. There are many ways to search; for example, by subject, by author, by title, or by keyword.

WorldCat

For books that the library doesn't own, search WorldCat, a catalog of the holdings of hundreds of libraries in the United States and around the world.

If you find materials that we don't have at the Claremont Colleges or via Link+, then request it via InterLibrary Loan (ILL).

Blais > Link+ > ILL

This illustrates the world of information available to you. The Claremont Colleges Library (Blais) does not have every book or journal. Link+ is a consortium of libraries in Southern California and the southwest that give you access to more books. And Interlibrary Loan (ILL) allows you to request material from bascially every library in the United States.

Link+ is only for books and takes about 2-3 days for materials to arrive.

ILL is for books not available via Link+ and all journal articles. Articles usually take less than 2 days to arrive as a PDF accessible via your ILLIad account. Books can take up to 2 weeks or longer to arrive.

Subject Headings

Subject Headings are a "Controlled Vocabulary" that help you find all the books on a particular subject. If you find a relevant subject heading for your research topic in our catalog, you can also use it in many indexed databases.

Since books are arranged by subject in the library stacks, if you find one relevant book, browse the shelves to find other books on that topic. You can also browse by broad subject area. See the LC Book Classifications box below.